Dog Friends Come Through As Always

It is not uncommon for people to retire from Aramco after working here for 20, 30, even 40 years. In those cases, the home department can choose to host a ma’asalamah (farewell) party. Being a short-timer, I don’t qualify for a work-sponsored event. But two of my dog friends (PM and MW) took care to see that I had a ma’asalamah party anyway: a last day of shopping, food, and drink in Bahrain before I turn in my passport and iqama.

Mmm.

We got an early start to beat the causeway crush and headed to one of the big malls for coffee. Once the stores began opening, we began shopping. I wouldn’t say that my friends are women who live to shop, but they clearly know more about the entire process than I do. We ended up in this small shop where they began trying on tops and each ended up buying one. I didn’t try anything on but they kept pushing this top or that dress at me. I felt a bit churlish for not getting more into the spirit of things but I rarely shop for clothes precisely because I hate trying them on and dealing with the inevitable disappointment when they don’t fit. 

MW and the G&T that she'd been drooling about for days.

Cheeseball! PM.

Next we headed over to M&S. I was extremely pleased to immediately score some cheap flipflops (HellBeast had managed to get at my current pair one too many times and I needed replacements) and I suppose this shopping success put me in a different frame of mind. 

I ended up trying on a few pieces of clothes at M&S including a pair of black leggings. I’ve never tried on leggings before. I’ve never even envisioned myself wearing that particular fashion trend: tunics and leggings. You see it everywhere on women young and old, thin and round, but for some reason I never pursued it. But watching PM and MW spend an hour trying on tunic tops that morning must have planted the idea in my head. The leggings fit so I bought them. But what to wear with them?

We spent about an hour looking at carpets. The shop owner was surly and his selection was poor. Despite being perfectly able and willing, none of us bought any carpets that morning. His loss.

We headed back to the first shop where we proceeded to engage in a frenzy of fitting room madness. Those two crazy women had me trying on dresses and tops and all kinds of weird things that I would have never even given a second glance to. All three of us tried on a couple of the dresses, the same dress, in fact, because although we are very different in size and shape, we wear about the same size. And I ended up buying a very cool tunic top to wear over the leggings. Who knew I could look so fashionable? It's certainly not my normal mode of dress!

I’ve had a number of close women friends over the years but for some reason I don’t usually go shopping with them, certainly not clothes shopping taken to that level. So the morning at the mall with PM and MW was a surprise and a pleasure.

We closed our day in Bahrain with an excess of food and drink at Trader Vick’s where we sat on the patio overlooking their landscaped lagoon backed by the Arabian Gulf. PM and MW wouldn’t take a single hallalah from me for the driver or the meals or the alcohol (including two bottles of wine and a couple of B52 shots each!), insisting that it was all their treat. It was the best ma’asalamah party I’ll ever have!

View of the Arabian Gulf from Trader Vick's patio.

We made a quick run to Al Osra (home of the famed pork store) on the way back. The situation in Bahrain remains unsettled and we ran into a minor roadblock of burning tires and debris. A quick detour and some equally quickly snapped photos and we were on our way again.